Jessica Ennis-Hill Quotes

People expect you to play your best, so I go through a routine to prepare myself so that I know I'm physically and mentally ready - prepared for the game.

During my first Olympics in 1980, at the age of 23, I was physically in great condition but mentally too inexperienced to cope comfortably in the pressure cooker of an Olympic year.

Yes, I could win the Olympics. I hope to, and that's what I'm training for. But it's really going to come down to me racing on that day... Just being really calm and mature about what the reality is - that's my strategy.

Learning how to compete is one of the most important things that an athlete can do. You can train as well as you possibly can and go compete and completely choke.

As long as I have that support from my team, and I have that confidence in myself that I train really hard, I think there's no one out there who can defeat me in my weight class.

My concentration level blocks out everything. Concentration is why some athletes are better than others. You develop that concentration in training and concentrate in a meet.

I've probably given myself enough time to prepare for this meet and we're all different athletes so I can't take their results as what's going to be inevitable for me.

Tiger Woods, Larry Bird, Wayne Gretzky, a pitcher just before a game, I would imagine they all have nervous energy. But as you perform, the nervous energy dissipates and you start to relax and you start to do what you do best.

I always got nervous the nights we played in the World Series. First pitch, I was nervous. Then after that, forget it; I'd start playing.

Touring is really about being on edge the whole time - you're like a racing horse: you've just got to be on. You've got to pull it together.

There's an inner feeling you get when you get in a situation to do well in a game. It's hard to explain.

There's an adage that a lot of coaches have, that I completely disagree with, is if you make the Olympic team too early you become complacent.

I want to wake up every day and feel that I'm training harder than my competitors, that I'm dieting harder, that I'm recovering better. That's what gives me confidence when I'm lining up on the blocks. I've never gone out to prove people wrong. I just want to be the best that I can possibly be.

Well, it's still another two-day competition, so it's really important to show that you're ready. Every meet is really important right now. You've got to keep showing you can hit.

I get nervous for any competition. I also get really competitive.

Most of my best games were when I felt crap - I could hardly move on the morning of the World Cup semi-final in 1990 - but there's a thing called adrenaline that gets you through.

I've been in opening matches of pay-per-views. I've been in main events of pay-per-views, and the same mentality is applied to both, and that is, 'To this point, this is the biggest match of my life, and I'm gonna go out there and give it everything I have.'

When I set my eyes on the gold at the world championships, I was able to maintain that focus that whole day. That's what I aim to do in Rio - my focus is gold, so I can keep in that good state; I can't get too complacent. I can't relax; I can't be content. I need to be 100 per cent switched on.

I don't get butterflies. I get a good feeling in my stomach before I compete. When I don't, I get worried.

The first few years I was competing, I'd ride so well in practice, then choke and fall in competition. Now I take a deep breath and say, 'Look at me. I'm outside. I'm doing what I love.' Still, nothing's matched the pressure I felt standing at the top of the halfpipe for the first time at the Olympics.

London was the Olympics that I was most nervous about. From coming into the venue and stepping on to the mat, people were supporting with 'Saori' banners and waving the Japanese flag, so even though it was London, I felt much more like fighting at home that way, which was really inspiring.

I don't like to come to tournaments, like, one week before, because I just need, like, a few days, and then I'm ready to go for it.

The mental part of the game, being able to free up on the tennis court, is much easier said than done.

When I compete, I love a huge crowd, expectation, pressure, and I like to have nerves: the butterflies flying and my hands shaking. This way, I am completely amped, focused, and ready; otherwise, I tend to be to relaxed, content, and don't perform at my maximal potential.

Some guys lock up when they hear the crowd. I feel the energy and take it with me into the fight. I've been in front of huge crowds and know to use that energy.